Police say 30-year-old Nelson Hercules told investigators he went to Pennsylvania with the intention of having sex with a 12-year-old girl he met online.
They say the girl's mother watched her daughter get in a car with a man she didn't know and drive off. The mom called 911 and police found Hercules, his car and the 12-year-old girl inside a hotel a room.
”You just wouldn't expect him to do that. Yeah it's almost scary that you have interaction with people daily and you really never know,” Kelly O’toole said.
Kelly O'toole and her boyfriend Josh Degraff live right next door to Hercules in the Lake Edward neighborhood.
Degraff says Hercules mentioned he met a girl online and had plans to go visit her. He never told Josh that girl he was planning on meeting was just 12 years old.
“He mentioned he met some girl on some computer gaming website or something and they were eventually going to go meet up and go camping one day or something but that was as far as it went ," Degraff said.
Yolanda Fairbanks grew up with Hercules. They both live off Caxton Road and went to the same high school.
She couldn't believe that this man she's known for years is being accused of preying on a young girl, especially as a mom of a 6-year-old.
“I have a daughter that plays out side here every day. It`s a problem to me knowing I know him personally not that I talk to him every day but I find that a problem," Fairbanks said.
A problem she says is relieved her neighborhood doesn't have deal with tonight.
Hercules is charged with attempted rape of a child, unlawful contact with a minor, indecent assault, interference with the custody of a minor, kidnapping of a minor, corruption of a minor and crime use of a communication facility. All of the charges are felonies.
Hercules is currently in the Lancaster County Prison.
